Project: Deuce

Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Those OCZ RAM sinks look nice, however that product page says they are EOL'd, and the only place I found them was Petra's... where they were listed as discontinued.

Tech-Daddy, I hope that works out! The only thing I'll say is that I gotta get myself one of those acrylic benders, looks infinitely useful for any needed custom PC parts... ;)
 

Merlin

The Tech Wizard
Man, If you could mill them out of copper that would be awesome.
And a clear acrylic housing with little plastic fishies floating around......J?K
But the clear housing would be cool with maybe even some etching.

Love to see it all when you have it completed

Merlin
 

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
Those OCZ RAM sinks look nice, however that product page says they are EOL'd, and the only place I found them was Petra's... where they were listed as discontinued.

Tech-Daddy, I hope that works out! The only thing I'll say is that I gotta get myself one of those acrylic benders, looks infinitely useful for any needed custom PC parts... ;)


So they are. Tech-Daddy, if you need some, I have a couple of packages sitting unused.

Can't wait for your next update!
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Looking good as always, T-D. I think the shroud will actually work well here, since it will cover the ugly (objective) waterblock. Interested to see what you plan to do with it to prettify it though. The color of that thing is ugly.
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
Rob... Oh how I think you will be happy with what has happened to the shroud! ;)

Just an FYI.... Just because I have not been updating like a good boy, does not mean that I have not been working the mod! ;)

I have made a LOT of progress on the internal acrylic structures. Several prototypes of designs that I wanted, bared out the fact that there was simply not enough space for that particular vision application! (Glad I did the prototypes!) So, after some rethinking, I rebuild a few things, and came up with some new stuff!

As I am exhausted and in desperate need of a shower, so no pics tonight.
I have acrylic dust in places I did not know I could get it! ;)

But I think you will like where this is going!!
Hold on tight!
-=TD
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
You have the nerve to come back after such a long break and not even GIVE US A SINGLE PICTURE?!

;-)
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
I really set off a firestorm... I've got another forum giving me the "high hard one" too!

Sheesh!

I'll have some pics up later! ....
but I found something that may change *yet again* my layout!
Cripes...
I am a mess....
;)
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
Here ya go Rob... a little somethin to tide ya over.
Told ya I'd take care of that shroud! ;)

vc_shroud2.jpg


vc_shroud3.jpg


vc_shroud4.jpg


vc_shroud5.jpg


I'll process the rest of the pics tomorrow. These were from tonight.
-=TD
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
Welll.... how did I build the card shroud?
Read on...

First thing though.... It's not totally done. I still have to get a fan mounted in the bottom of this thing, under the Palit logo.
Secondly... I need to get my bolts to properly screw in and hold in... that is always challenging! ;)

But enough about the technicalities... here's how this all went down.

Starting with the blue, 1/4" acrylic, I drew out the design on the protective paper, then cut it out in a general, more manageable form from the 24"x24" panel.
vc_shroud_build1.jpg


I made the design so that I had flames wrapping around the tubing paths leading to the MAZE5 GPU block. Knowing that the OD of the tubing was 5/8", I grabbed me a spade bit of equivalent diameter and put it on the drill press, and made the preliminary holes for the tubing... keeping in mind that with bending and sanding, the shape of the flames would likely change.
vc_shroud_build2.jpg


I then dropped in some maneuvering holes to be used while working the scroll saw. My thinking was to put them in places that I may have difficulty turning the acrylic on the saw.
vc_shroud_build3.jpg


After the initial scroll saw cutting, the rough shape is defined. I was not totally concerned about missing my lines on the flames, as flame work sometimes takes on a life of it's own... and if I had a few flames that were not perfect... I was cool with that! Sanding will refine the shapes as I progress!
vc_shroud_build4.jpg


For measurement sake, I kept referring back to the card to make sure my perspective was correct. The "P" logo on the right is for Palit, the vedor that is graciously letting me mod some of their product! :)
vc_shroud_build5.jpg


Got the P logo cut out, and then compared it against the print out of the logo... not bad! There will be a bit of sanding here to refine the edges. Same concept here... I drilled holes in strategic places on the acrylic to allow me to manuver the scroll saw in some of the tight places.
vc_shroud_build6.jpg


Take off the paper protector to see how badly I've butchered this piece.... and was pleasantly surprised to not have any cracks or splinters! But... oh my, do I have a lot of cleanup and sanding to do! ;)
vc_shroud_build7.jpg


Just did the first bend on the side facing the card slot. I also had to cut a notch for the DVI ports. I used the acrylic bender to heat the bending line, then used two blocks of wood to press and hold the bend. My second shroud will be produced a bit differently on the bending technique, as the wood grain left some unwanted imperfections i nthe surface of the acrylic. I'm going to build me another bending jig to mimic the size of the video card and the height that I need.
vc_shroud_build8.jpg


I flame polished the edges of the entire piece. Lemme say, that it can really, really, *really* make the edges look good.... or it can throw a horrible wrench into the appearance if you over cook an edge. It is a very delicate dance that you must perform, *especially* on the thiner pieces (in my case the flame tips).
vc_shroud_build9.jpg


Looking underneath the first bend and checking my clearance.
vc_shroud_build10.jpg


Flip it over and visualize.... I started seeing problems with my tube inlets in this shot, and started investigating....
vc_shroud_build11.jpg


I <3 this shot... ;)
vc_shroud_build12.jpg


I dropped in 2 sample pieces of tubing to see how they would fit, and saw that they were not passing through as freely or as straight as I had hoped. So, I ended up taking my dremmel's sanding drum, and sanding/enlarging the opening to better accommodate the tubing. I also reshaped many pieces of flame work, then re-flame polished the edges.
vc_shroud_build13.jpg


After some more adjustments, I ended up with the below unit. Notice the flame next to the PCI power. I Had to bend a flame lick to insure that it would not impede any power cabling. Because I kept it, I May reshape it to wrap it around the cable line...

*ding*

Actually, I have a sweet idea for integrated cable management for the PCI power. I'll have to build it off of the top card since it requires a long piece of acrylic to be pulled and shaped from the main body... heheheh, fun fun!

vc_shroud2.jpg
 
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Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Damn, this is sharp, and not in a punny way. It's so flush and well-done, I love it. Are those tubes the same color that will appear in the final mod, or are they temp? I forget, did you ever come up with a final color for the coolant?

Looking good man!
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
Damn, this is sharp, and not in a punny way. It's so flush and well-done, I love it. Are those tubes the same color that will appear in the final mod, or are they temp? I forget, did you ever come up with a final color for the coolant?

Looking good man!

Tubes are temp. My final tubing will be clear, and there will be 2 colors of coolent. Likely blue and green.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Sounds good. Quick question though... does acrylic not bow or bend with moderate heat? Is there a risk that if the GPU got too hot, it could cause some adverse effect to the shroud?

Might be a stupid question, but I'm curious.
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
maybe if I had the acrylic in direct contact with the GPU or the memory, that may be a problem. But for the ambient temps, and 1/4" acrylic... I have serious doubts that the card could generate enough heat, *especially* since the primary heat generator is water cooled, to have any affect on the acrylic.

:)
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Well, that's true and what I was thinking. Not sure why that question struck me to be honest. I'm no acrylic pro :-(
 

Tech-Daddy

Tech Monkey
As I have had a TON of time to work on this mod, I will have a pictorial update for you in the next day or two.

I have disassembled my primary rig (the one that housed all of my hardware that is going into Deuce) and have been installing and removing all of it in an effort to better visualize and route all of the cabling.

Well, in the coming days, there will be some good and exciting pics that I think you will like, as well as some serious movement.

To give a brief synopsis,

1) My plan for the pumps was not going to work. I mis judged the width of the motherboard and where the backs of the video cards were going to be.... but trials can bring inspiration when routed properly, and I came up with a bitchen solution for the pumps! I think you will like!

2) Chemical "WeldOn" is drying on the last joint of my reservoir brackets! I took one of the completed units and the one prototype that I did many weeks back, and placed them in the 5.25" bay area to see how they would work... and I am happy! I eyeballed those dimensions perfectly!!!

3) SLI bracket on the video cards is going to be a bit of a pain in the tookus.... since the cards each have their own full cover, I have to find a way to route the SLI bridge through the flamed acrylic *without* messing up the flow. This only impacts the top card, since the SLI bridge must cut across the flames to make it to the bottom card. I think I have an idea to minimize the flame impact.... we'll see.

4) I ordered fans for hte video cards, and unfortunately I recieved the wrong type. I am awaiting the replacement correct white LED fans.

5) In all of the hoopla of placing my case, I had the epiphany that, "Oh crap! I dont have room for an optical drive!" DOH!!! But I found an excellent item that will work the solution, an eSATA/USB chassis that will hold the CD/DVD drive. I have to check out my SATA ports on the machine, and if that wont work, then I will have to use it as USB. Fingers crossed....

more to come... but that is about a summary of what all is going on!!!
:up::up::up:
 
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